E-commerce
July 1, 2026
"The bot says Klarna is available even though my cart is €45." "The AI promises PayPal in Belgium, which is off map." "Apple Pay guaranteed on Chrome Android, impossible." Three failures where an ungrounded payment unavailable bot invents a method or worsens checkout abandonment.
An unavailable payment methods AI chatbot does not replace PAYUNAV agents (#517). It reads PAYUNAV-MAP, quotes unavailable_reason_code, proposes ordered alternative_methods, and reroutes declined payments if a card was attempted.
This guide #518 covers intents bot_pay_unav_*, flow PAYUNAVbot, and KPI payunav_bot. Companion bot to the PAYUNAV playbook (#517). New AI use case: saving a blocked checkout without promising an ineligible method.
Summary
Why automate "payment unavailable" via bot?
The question "why is PayPal missing?" occurs at the payment checkout step. A calibrated bot reads the cart context and PAYUNAV-MAP in seconds, without promising BNPL below the threshold or Apple Pay on unsupported devices.
What the tier 1 bot resolves
Method missing explain: unavailable_reason_code map
Alternative quote: ordered alternative_methods
BNPL threshold: cart_min_eur vs cart_total
Device gate: Apple Pay Safari wallet rule
Product block: gift_card SKU explain
Baymard documents the impact of payment option visibility on conversion (Baymard, payment step 2026). The bot intercepts bot_pay_unav_method_missing before shopping cart abandonment.
PAYUNAVbot vs PAYUNAV #517, payment declined and COD #469
Four contents, four checkout payment friction layers.
Quick matrix
#518 PAYUNAVbot: bot alternative reason checkout tier 1
#517 PAYUNAV: ops agents config Shopify payment
Payment declined: attempted card blocked by bank
#469 COD: cash on delivery payment zone conditions
Pipeline: bot_pay_unav alternative quote → checkout recovery → #517 if config ops error or dispute policy.
Which bot_pay_unav_* intents should be configured?
Eight bot payment unavailable intents.
Eight intents bot_pay_unav
bot_pay_unav_method_missing: PayPal Klarna missing why
bot_pay_unav_alternative: which method to use instead
bot_pay_unav_cart_min: BNPL threshold cart too low
bot_pay_unav_country: method missing shipping country
bot_pay_unav_device: Apple Pay greyed out device browser
bot_pay_unav_product: gift card blocks method
bot_pay_unav_cart_max: method limit exceeded
bot_pay_unav_checkout_link: checkout link alternative method
Tier 1 auto: method_missing, alternative, cart_min, country, device, product if cart context + PAYUNAV-MAP lookup.
Intent bot_pay_unav cart_max and config error Shopify → agents #517 with payload market, cart_total, method_requested.
How do you use PAYUNAV-MAP #517?
The bot reads PAYUNAV-MAP #517: payment_method, market_country, cart_min_eur, cart_max_eur, product_block_sku_tags, unavailable_reason_code, alternative_methods, policy_url, checkout_visibility.
Lookup grounded
Cart context: shipping country total EUR line tags
Method row: payment_method + market branch
Reason code: country min max product device exact
Alternatives list: alternative_methods map order only
Policy cite: policy_url if customer disputes
Alignment anti-hallucination (#123): methods = PAYUNAV-MAP whitelist only.
PAYUNAVBOT-SUP policy in six rules
Six rules bot payment unavailable safe.
NO-METHOD-PROMISE: never method outside PAYUNAV-MAP row
PAYUNAV-MAP-GROUNDED: reason alternatives from map only
CART-CONTEXT-REQUIRED: market total SKU device before response
ALTERNATIVE-ORDERED: cite alternative_methods order map
DECLINED-REROUTE: card declined → payment declined playbook
CHECKOUT-LINK-SAFE: cart link recovery without PII leak
Flow PAYUNAVbot PUNB-1 to PUNB-8
Eight-step flow for unavailable payment bot.
PUNB-1 Classify: bot_pay_unav_* intent
PUNB-2 Cart context: country total SKUs device browser
PUNB-3 Method ask: payment_method customer awaits
PUNB-4 PAYUNAV-MAP: lookup reason alternatives
PUNB-5 Guardrail: NO-METHOD-PROMISE CART-CONTEXT
PUNB-6 Respond: TPL-PAYUNAVbot grounded
PUNB-7 Recovery link: checkout alternative_methods deep link
PUNB-8 Log: reason_cited alternatives tag payunav_bot
Example TPL-PAYUNAVbot-ALT
"[payment_method] unavailable: [unavailable_reason_code]. Alternatives: [alternative_methods]. Your cart [cart_total] €, country [country]. Continue checkout: [checkout_link]."
TPL-PAYUNAVbot and touchpoints templates
Four essential templates.
TPL-PAYUNAVbot-MISSING
[payment_method] not displayed: [unavailable_reason_code]. Try: [alternative_methods]. Policy: [policy_url].
TPL-PAYUNAVbot-MIN
Klarna from [cart_min_eur] €. Current cart: [cart_total] €. Alternatives: Card, Shop Pay, PayPal.
TPL-PAYUNAVbot-DEVICE
Apple Pay: Safari iOS/macOS + Wallet card. On your device: [alternative_methods].
TPL-PAYUNAVbot-PRODUCT
Gift card in cart blocks [payment_method]. Remove gift card or pay with [alternative_methods].
Touchpoints
Checkout payment step widget: proactive bot_pay_unav chip
Method greyed tooltip: bot_pay_unav_method_missing trigger
Cart page pre-checkout: BNPL threshold preview
Help center payment FAQ: bot embed alternative lookup
Edge cases and reroutes
Five cases outside tier 1 bot.
Card declined after: declined payment DECLINED-REROUTE
Cart recovery: bot recovery post payment abandonment
B2B transfer: manual transfer if cart > threshold
COD zone: #469 COD map row distinct
Shopify config error: handoff #517 ops payment settings audit
Bot does not modify Shopify payment admin: handoff #517 if method should show per map but missing checkout config.
Essential payunav_bot KPIs
Five PAYUNAVbot control metrics.
payunav_bot_auto_resolve: % tier 1 without agent
payunav_bot_recovery_rate: % sessions → alternative checkout
payunav_bot_map_grounded_rate: PAYUNAV-MAP compliant responses
payunav_bot_method_promise_violation: NO-METHOD-PROMISE, target 0
payunav_bot_alternative_cited: % with alternative_methods list
Monthly red team: 10 prompts "Klarna guaranteed 30 €", "PayPal everywhere promised", "Apple Pay Chrome Android". Method out of map = PAYUNAV-MAP-GROUNDED violation.
PAYUNAVbot anti-patterns
Six common mistakes.
Klarna promised below threshold: NO-METHOD-PROMISE
Invented alternative: PAYUNAV-MAP-GROUNDED
Confusing card declined: DECLINED-REROUTE
Apple Pay without device check: CART-CONTEXT-REQUIRED
Duplicate payment help #540: unav focus only
Ignore product block: gift_card SKU gate
PAYUNAVbot with Qstomy
Qstomy on Shopify checkout: detect pay_unav intent payment step, PAYUNAV-MAP RAG, cart context widget, alternative deep link recovery, handoff #517 ops config exception.
Pipeline: bot alternative recovery → #517 ops if config gap → AI governance #142 audit method claims.
Explore AI support and request a demo.
Checklist, FAQ and going further
PAYUNAVbot Checklist (8 steps)
Sync PAYUNAV-MAP #517: RAG bot whitelist only
Policy PAYUNAVBOT-SUP: 6 NO-METHOD-PROMISE rules
8 intents bot_pay_unav_*: flow PUNB-1 to PUNB-8
4 templates TPL-PAYUNAVbot-*: MISSING MIN DEVICE PRODUCT
Checkout cart context API: country total SKU tags device
Payment step proactive widget: bot_pay_unav entry
Red team 10 prompts: Klarna guaranteed PayPal invented
KPI Dashboard: payunav_bot_* section 9
FAQ
Difference #517?
#517 = agents ops dispute policy config. #518 = bot tier 1 alternative checkout recovery.
Difference payment declined?
Declined = card attempted. #518 = method missing at checkout.
Does bot activate PayPal?
No. Explain + alternative link. Config → #517 ops.
Klarna threshold?
TPL-PAYUNAVbot-MIN cart_min_eur map grounded.
Going further
This week: index PAYUNAV-MAP in bot corpus, test red team "Klarna €30 guaranteed", measure payunav_bot_recovery_rate. Activate payment step proactive widget.
Enzo
July 1, 2026
